Recover
by Eladamri-Lord-of-Leaves
Summary: Sequel to Sick. Yes you do have to read the first one before reading this one. Who's who, What's what? Well you're just going have to read and find out. Although I can guarantee that nothing will be as it seems! CHAPTER THREE UP!
1. Lift up my veil and let me see

Okay, those of you who where around when I first started _Sick_ should be aware of how I work. Post a first chapter, let it sit on the back burner, on low, and come to boil, then completely toss the original idea in the trash and start new (with regularish updates)! XD

So, here it is! The re-amped and better, more sense making, and easier on me ( LOL ) first chapter of, _Recover_!

Disclamier: I still don't own _-FAKE- _...

**P.S. ...For those of you who read the original first chapter, nothing has been given away. What happened may or may not have a reappearance later on. So don't worry, nothing has been spoiled, and those of you who didn't you won't miss a thing.** D

_**BETA NOTE**__**!**__ For those who are new to this chapter and haven't read this before, I am the beta-reader (editor). Since my baka (the author of this fic) decided to publish this chapter BEFORE I could have time to edit it, most of the readers had to suffer with 127 grammar/spelling/typing mistakes and whatever other mistakes (like sentence structure) she could possibly make! Yes, I said ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SEVEN! All in this one little chapter... aren't you so happy you could read this with my lovely beta skills? Okay, well, enjoy the chapter, I certainly did... save for the 127 errors. 4 Arra_

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Night, a time when everything was quiet, serene and tranquil. It was also a time when everything was dark, cast in shadows and the monsters that lurked within them could roam undetected. That didn't faze this man though, who stood out on the balcony and stared up at the moon. The wind blew softly through his hair and felt almost refreshing on his hot and damp skin. He sighed, letting out a puff of smoke from his cigarette, and lowered his gaze from the brilliant clear orb above to the darkened streets below.

There, he saw movement flicker in the corner of his eye and he whipped his head to the side to watch. A woman, running down the narrow street between his building and the next one, what or who she was running from was as unknown to her as to the man who was watching the scene unfold. He was fascinated by the whole thing. There she was running, hair flying behind her, skirt ripped, shirt torn and she was missing one of her heels...but still she ran into the cover of the night. Night. The darkness, giving her hope that if she remained within its grasp then her pursuer would not be able to find her. Though she was not so fortunate, and the darkness she ran to for safety and comfort betrayed her to the light of the full moon.

He was there, down below, turning on to the same street as the woman. Hair slicked back, walking at a calm and relaxed pace as his jacket blew in the wind, his designer shoes parting the waters of the puddles that had splashed violently when she ran through them not moments before. This man knew the shadows. He was familiar with the black in the deepest corners of the street. Where the woman saw them as protection, he saw them as a weapon. Knowing how to manipulate them to work for him, how far to drive his prey until they had nowhere else to run; which is what had happened.

The woman had run to the end of the street, which just so happened to be a dead end. In a frightened gasp she turned around, saw the man approaching, and pressed her back against the wall. As though it would open up and allow her to pass. The man from the balcony kept watching, like a spectator at a 3D movie, feeling every part involved in the horrible act happening below as much as he knew he wasn't.

Time felt like it stood still. From the time it took him to put on his shoes, grab something from the nightstand, and make his way to the back of the building. This time it was he who used the shadows to his advantage. The darkness that he had analyzed before aided him in getting close to the scene without either of the two noticing him. When he was standing behind the man, he stepped from the shadows and cocked the weapon he was holding, "I am going to have to ask you to step away from the lady." His voice was cold, hollow and racked with sleepless nights. The other man turned around, his dark brown eyes staring back into the blue ones of the man in front of him.

"And who do you think you are, telling me what to do?"

"I have a gun pointed at your head. I've had a fucking shitty night, I am a cop..." he grinned when the other man's smug expression fell. It gave him all that more pleasure to finish his sentence, "...and I am off duty." He made to pull back on the trigger and the woman covered his ears and ducked her head.

"Alright man." The guy told him, with raised arms, "I'll leave the stupid bitch alone." Their eyes met and locked, keeping each other's gazes until the hunter, who had become the hunted, had disappeared back into the depths of the night and the busy street that connected.

Putting the gun away he walked over to the woman and put a hand on her shoulder, "Are you going to be alright, Miss?" There was no sense in asking her if she was okay. Just by looking at her and the state of her cloths it was obvious to anyone that she wasn't. Looking up into her savior's face she let out another gasp. The face was that of a tormented man, heavy bags under his eyes and even though the smile was supposed to be reassuring, it looked forced and ugly. She managed a nod and stood on her own.

"I...I'll be fine..." She brushed past him and made her way back to the busy street herself. With the sense of calmness flowing back into the darkened street, he felt as though he had chased the monsters out of the shadows and eased the moonlight into a once untouchable area...even though it was shining directly on him. Sighing, he headed back to his apartment, back to his balcony, where he stood sleepless, watching the moon make its slow arc across the night sky, and the sun poke its first rays above the line of city buildings. Another day was starting. Another nightmare was ending.

Any moment an alarm clock would start buzzing and it would then be promptly shut off by a forceful slam. Even though he wasn't asleep to begin with, it just didn't feel right unless he pounded the poor electronic into the nightstand. He snorted, it was amazing how many things had the word _night_ in them, yet had nothing to do with the word. A nightstand, was made to store things by the bed, a nightlight was used for children to keep away the shadows of the dark, a night watch glowed in the dark so you could see the numbers no matter what, a nightstick was a weapon used by the police force... the list went on and he had to force himself to relax and breath. He had to get ready. That meant, shower, eat, coffee, work. Not necessarily in that order, but they had to be done.

xXx

It was late into the afternoon when he finally managed to pull himself into the precinct and sit himself down behind his desk. Ted was actually the first person to come around him, and tossed a magazine on the desk. He looked at the cover and then up at Ted with a raised eyebrow, "And why, may I ask, are you fucking throwing porn mags on my desk?"

"Because," Ted started simply, "...you seem stressed out and I know a little porn in the bathroom is a good cure for pent up stress."

"I am fine, Ted." He growled and tossed the grinning naked woman back at the other man. Ted, who barely managed to catch the magazine, shook his head and walked off flipping the pages as he neared the bathrooms. Stress or no stress, porn was porn.

Berkeley watched the scene between the two cops unfold with a frown on his lips. Two years. It had been two years since the incident. Two years and still...Rose shook his head as he walked over to the brunet and put a hand on his shoulder. "Dee, would you like to take a vacation?"

Dee snarled and swatted at the hand. "A vacation! How can you even suggest that while Leo's still out there somewhere!"

"I am suggesting it because I am your superior. You have been working, though poorly I might add, nonstop ever since. Two years Dee. We haven't found or heard anything about Leo's whereabouts, so just take a week to pull yourself back together." While Dee was shouting and making a scene, Berkeley kept his voice calm, there was no point in getting angry with the man who was just venting some built up rage.

"I am not going on some fucking trip while that blond assfuck is wandering the streets with that goddamn SMIRK of his!"

"You are. That's final." He turned to leave, but Dee grabbed the back of his collar and turned him around.

"I am not fucking going anywhere."

Rose narrowed his eyes and pulled his jacket out from Dee's grip, "I do not want to see you anywhere within a twenty mile radius of this building for the next two weeks. Dee Laytner."

"Can I finish this shift...?" He growled, not liking the way things were turning out. Rose nodded and turned around, walking back into his office. Dee sank back down into his chair, putting his head in his hands. He didn't want to be home for the next two weeks, unable to do anything...feeling as useless as he had then...

_ "Dee relax, it's not worth it." _Ryo's calm voice drifted through his mind as he leaned his head on the stack of papers on the desk. Not really caring that he was falling behind in his reports, and letters of apologies...he was bad at those anyway, he always had the blond cop write them for him...

_"It is so fucking worth it. Damn it Ryo, he's trying to fucking kill you!" _Dee had been frantic, letting his emotions cloud over the scene. All he thought of at that moment was putting enough lead in Leo to make him a human pencil. After all everything that he had put Ryo through, as a child and even now, mocking him from the shadows. He clenched his fist around his pen, a grip so tight his knuckles where turning white.

_"But what's the good in it if you end up going to jail too?" _Ryo's voice still had that calm edge to it, and even the slightest hint of a chuckle. He was trying to reason with the hot-headed brunet, trying to get Dee to calm down and lower his weapon. He had been right. No good would have come of it if he had shot, at least not without Leo shooting first.

_"That's right Dee, be a good boy and listen to your boyfriend why don't you." _But the asshole had to open his mouth and speak to him in a manner, a tone of voice, which made the temperamental cop feel inferior. It made him feel as though he was once again being reduced to nothing in the eyes of the man that they had been tracking for years. Each time they would get so close and then have it ripped from them. And that night was not different.

_Pissed off beyond belief, Dee fired at Leo, Damien not being in the full know how, jumped in front of Leo and shot his gun as well, not making any direct aim, just hoping that he didn't miss anyone. They were all taken back some when he jumped in front, and took the bullet, no one noticed where his bullet had gone but, Damien hadn't missed, he had gotten Ryo. _

It had been his fault...if Dee never let Leo's words get to him. If he'd hadn't lost his temper to the point of no return, if he had in fact listened to Ryo, then his blond partner would still be there. With him.

_Both bodies fell simultaneously to the ground with an ungraceful thump._

Dee felt his heart sink when the look of pain that had been on Ryo's face flashed through his mind.

_Neither one moved._

He felt his heart stop as his blood ran cold in his veins.

_Neither one breathed._

He felt his world spin out of control as he dropped to his knees and picked the blood soaked blond up into to his lap, cradling his head as though the action was going to make everything alright again. That this was just one big nightmare and that when he opened his eyes things would be back to normal. Ryo wouldn't be laying there, the pained look that had passed across his face gone to the sweet painless bliss of the beyond.

He had raised his head, and his weapon with the intention of shooting Leo again, and this time not missing. But the blond crook was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the body of the red head that had fallen at his feet.

"Dee, yo man, I got something for you." The sound of Drakes voice broke through his self-loathing and back to the present time, out from the nightmare that plagued him every time he closed his eyes.

"Why would he have taken the body..." He muttered, staring at the floor, Drake raised an eyebrow and then nodded. That fact had the whole Investigations Division in a mess. Why take the pains of dragging the dead body away from the scene of the crime, away from where it had fallen. Even for a case relating to Leo it seemed weird and out of the ordinary. Drake watched as Dee started to fall back into himself, into the self-inflicted pain.

"Dee! Snap out of it man, I am talking to ya here."

"What is it...Drake?"

"I found out some information that might persuade you into taking that vacation Berks hammered you about."

Dee snorted, "I doubt it...but I suppose I'll listen to you run your mouth off."

"Well man, geeze," Drake rubbed the back of his head with one hand and tossed the folder the other was holding on the desk. He leaned over and opened it, "Take a look at these. It's the results from that bag of so called candy that we took from that back room. Jim just got them back from upstate."

"And what do I have to do with it...I am not supposed to be working after this shift. Remember?"

"Well yeah, but we all know that's a load of bullshit, and you'll be working anyway," Dee snorted, "So man, I figured that you could use it anyway."

"Yeah yeah...so what's the deal with it?" He had to admit, he was mildly interested. After all, two years and no leads and finally they got some good news. It lifted his spirits a little bit and made everything feel slightly better.

"Seems as though Smyth wasn't working alone. We got the poison supplier narrowed down to a Chouko Kasamatsu, or at least from her father's company...not much more then that though."

"So some Chinese bitch was supplying the drugs?"

"Ah, Japanese...and she isn't just _someone_, she's the daughter of Ichiro Kasamatsu, Headhancho of the Kasamatsu Clan."

"...So she's the daughter of-"

"Ichiro-kumichou. Ring leader of the Osaka yakuza." Jim interrupted, walking up to the duo with a smile on his face. He pushed his glasses back up onto his nose and handed them another folder, "I pulled this from the records, it seems as though Ichiro has done some work here in New York in the past."

Dee took the folder from the lab-boy and looked it over, brows furrowed and a small frown on his lips. This case had gone from weird to...downright messed up. He had made up his mind though. He was going to take that vacation. The only ones who were going to know the difference were going to be Drake and Jim because... "Why don't you two come with me?"

"Come with you where, Dee?" Jim asked with a raised eyebrow. Drake shook his head and waved his hands.

"I am going on vacation to Osaka, and I might need...company."

"Dee man, you only have two weeks. What are you supposed to accomplish in two freaking weeks?"

"A hell of a lot more then we have in the past two years."

The two blonds sighed and looked at each other. They had started this whole idea by presenting the evidence to the brunet in the first place. Though their reason was to inform him that things had finally picked up and that they were going to be able to, hopefully, get Leo once and for all. But it seemed as though that wasn't what had happened, and their little pick-Dee-up had turned into an overseas investigation disguised as a well needed vacation. What the bloody hell...

"Alright, I'm in." Jimmy grinned, "I've never been to Japan." Drake looked at him with wide eyes,

"How can you be agreeing to this? This is...this is insane! We could get in so much shit for this!"

"So you're in too, right Drake."

"..." The blond pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, "...Yeah, I am coming."

Dee got up and surprised them both by giving them a hug, "Thanks guys. I have a good feeling about this, I really do."

xXx

Dee got home that night with a heavy weight lifted off his shoulders. He poked his head into the spare room that was now persistently occupied by Bikky and, more often than not, Carol. Though the kid said that it was only until he could find an apartment for just the two of them, Dee didn't mind sharing it anymore. At first it had been annoying, him and the teen always fighting about little stupid things and with Carol watching with a sad smile on her face... but after a few weeks they had settled into a mutual friendship and Bikky even helped out around the place.

He walked into the room, flicking on the light, and sat on the edge of the bed. Tonight Carol wasn't here. She was at a party for one of her friends, Liz or something like that. Reaching over he gently shook Bikky, who woke up with a grunt.

"What Dee?"

"I am just letting you know, that I am getting sent on an assignment, and I want you to stay out of trouble while I am away."

"Where are you going?"

"Japan... for two weeks. Me and two others are leaving tomorrow morning."

"Alright...I'll just stay at Carol's or something."

"No _or something_ you're either here or at her place." He stood up, ruffling the blond's hair and left the room leaving a scowling Bikky to roll over and try to get back to sleep.

Sleep. Something that Dee hadn't gotten much, if any, of in the past couple years, worse so in the beginning and then he just left it alone. If the state of mind didn't want to come to him, then he wasn't going to go hunt it down anyways. Sleeping meant he couldn't do anything. That he would be left to feel useless and pathetic. But tonight, sleep came to him. Sleep didn't make him feel worthless and unneeded. Because tonight, he knew he had to sleep, to regain some strength for the weeks to come. Where he would need every ounce of strength he could find.

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Hurah! There it is, the new first chapter...and you know, it's either longer or as long as most of the chapters from _Sick_...I am going to try to keep all my chapters this length, or at least close too, /- 100 words. Chapter two will be up sometime hopefully within the next week or so, depends on how often I get to work on it, but definitely before the middle of September.

BETA NOTE! 127 mistakes! ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SEVEN ERRORS! Just a reminder 4 Arra


	2. Dead among the living

Chapter Two...I am really loving where this ones going haha.

Disclaimer: Still no owning of the -FAKE-

Warnings: Language

P.S. This chapter was spell checked, but not beta'ed...because my beta is too busy to do anything at the moment...lol

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Dee woke up with his alarm clock, feeling fully refreshed and better then he had in a long time. Getting up he went to the bathroom and grabbed a quick shower and shaved. Wrapping the towel around his waist he walked back into his room and got dressed, before pulling the duffel bag out from under the bed and began packing. Two weeks, he was going to be gone for two weeks. Though it struck him kind of weird, that not moments before Drake came with the folder, Berkeley had told them that nothing new came up. Could it be that Rose wasn't aware of these findings, or maybe he was and didn't want Dee to know. Didn't want him to act, like he was now. He knew, they all knew, that this, if failed, could get them in a lot of trouble. Not only at home, but also within the international laws.

Japan...he had never been there before, though he had hoped that one day he would have been able to take Ryo there. But as fate would have it, it looked as though that wasn't going to happen. Not now and surely not ever. Dee hook his head and picked up his bag, when he remembered that he still needed to pack his laptop. Seeing as how they where going to be on vacation and not at all doing this through work, there was going to be no way that they would be able to bring in their ports from work. Hopefully though, Jim would be able to bring enough of his equipment that he would be able to do some work.

Computer packed, duffel bag over his shoulder, shoes and jacket on, keys and cellphone in hand and Bikky was up getting ready for school. He announced himself ready and left. First things first, he needed to go to the Precinct and tell the Chief he was leaving.

xXx

Drake on the other hand, hadn't slept all that well. He laid awake most of the night, tossing and turning, thinking about how stupid this whole thing was. Going to Japan…to chase down some poison dealing psycho bitch…this was clearly out of their hands, but yet, there they were…going at it anyway. Sighing he rolled out of bed when his alarm clock went off, surprisingly on the first beep. Not like he was sleeping anyway.

"Why can't we just let the Japanese police deal with this…" He grumbled to himself as he showered and dressed. "I don't even want to go…stupid Dee for roping me into his mess." It wasn't that he didn't want to catch the real culprit behind Ryo's death but, with so much riding on this like their careers, Drake didn't want to be dragged into something that was more then likely completely based around Dee's personal feelings.

The facts where in, Leo had escaped. Smyth was dead. Damion/Diamond was presumed dead as well…though no one could still figure out why Leo had taken his body…unless…no. Drake shook his head, he was thinking too much and starting to hurt his head. Japan was far away, on the other side of the globe, far away. Drake hated traveling, yet here he was, packed and ready to go up to his Chief and ask for two weeks off…so he could do exactly that plus so much more.

xXx

Jim chuckled as he stepped into the shower, he was up before his alarm even went off. He was too excited for this. When he had asked for the transfer between Precincts, it was because everyone there amused him, and provided some sort of entertainment in his dull and otherwise normal life. When he had found out that Ryo had been KIA, it had hit him rather hard as well, he and the blond cop where good friends after all. Though he hadn't originally been assigned to the investigation, oh no, Jimmy had stuck his nose in on purpose and looked over shoulders. Being so much of a pest that the lab boy had asked him if he wanted to take over. Of course as time wore on, more cases that demanded more attention came up, and slowly Ryo's case was pushed into the back of almost everyones mind. Almost, Dee never forgot and Jimmy still worked on it with what little free time he had been presented with. Now, however, he had a case and he had a means. Ryo was taken from the back burner and put on the front to boil.

Of course he had told Berkeley about it, and the Chief –but the two of them agreed that, if it was indeed dealing with the Japanese, then, unless they came back into New York, they couldn't do anything about it. The only thing that kept them from actually calling in across seas, is that he had yet to prove that Leo left the country.

Jim chuckled again, that Leo sure as hell was only slippery bastard. Always managing to show up and then disappear at whim, it made him have to wonder if deep down all the law enforcement didn't respect him a little in that way. Surely he would be a great asset if they ever managed to bring him into custody, as they where all sure Leo had, at least a finger if not, a hand in all the major crime rings in the state, and perhaps a few out.

With a sigh, and a shake of his head, Jimmy grabbed his bag and headed out the door. This was going to be a fun two weeks.

xXx

Dee Laytner, Drake Parker and Jimmy Campbell. They all went in, one after the other, into Chief Smiths office asking for the next two weeks off. All three gave a different excuse.

Dee's was that Berkeley told him to and that he didn't want to disobey orders such as that one. After a brief talk with Rose, the Chief agreed to give Dee the time off.

Drake told him that he was running the risk of loosing yet another girlfriend because of his hectic work schedule, and he really thought that she was one this time and he had plans on marrying her just as soon as he had enough money to buy her a real ring. The Chief gave him the time off just to shut the man up and get him out of the office. Though when Jim walked into the office with the request for time off, he was getting more then just a little ticked off.

"And why should I give YOU time off."

"Because I haven't had a vacation in all two and a half years that I've been working here and I feel that I deserve one."

"...That's the most reasonable excuse I've gotten all morning...I suppose I gave Dee and even Drake the time off so it wouldn't really be fair to someone who deserves it, not to get it." He sighed as he light another cigar, "Fine, you can have the time off."

Jimmy smiled his normal smile and left the office with a quite "Thank you sir." as he walked out to meet up with the other two. They looked at each other and nodded, now that they were out...they didn't know what to do next.

"We could go get our tickets."

"Drake...you do have the money for this...right?"

"Of course I do! I am not broke you know." Drake defended himself as Dee and Jim exchanged looks,

"Drake, we aren't just talking about enough money for a cup of coffee or a slice of pizza man, this is an airplane ticket to Japan..."

"Do not worry, I got it covered." He sounded confident, and they really didn't care, if he couldn't come up with the money then they would leave him behind. Though they didn't want to, as Drakes' big mouth tends to run off and spill information, best left a secret, when put under pressure...like Berkeley asking him just why the three of them took the same time off and went to the same place. Boy's Week Out his ass, if that where really the case, then why did they leave Ted behind. Why indeed? He had been there when the shooting had taken place. Though Dee and Drake where the original cops on the case and Jimmy, well Jim dealt with everything in the lab.

"I still can't believe that it took the boys upstate this long to get those results back."

"Well Dee," Jim sighed in the passenger seat of the car, Drake was in the back taking a little power nap, after all he hadn't slept all that much last night, "Things are prioritized and take time. Besides, with all the other cases that have come up, this has sort of been pushed to the back. Labs upstate aren't all that keen of dealing with something so old while there is new shit happening all over the place. Besides, CSI lies, it takes way more time to process shit then they do in the show."

"Oh..well in any case, you're better then Greg in my book." Jim laughed and patted Dee on the shoulder,

"Thanks man."

xXx

They got to the airport with little hassle. A few road blocks and a couple more slow turning lights, but nothing that delayed them by a lot. Dee and Jimmy stood in line, and payed for their tickets A.N. Don't ask where the money came from alright XD while Drake had gone off somewhere. Walking away from the desk and towards the long line before their plane. They found Drake, talking to a woman in an air hostess uniform.

"Please Clare!" He begged, she rolled her eyes,

"No Drake, I am not like some disposable ticket that you can use every time you want to go somewhere."

"I never go anywhere!"

"Well then, if you have two weeks off then why don't the two of us go somewhere?"

"It's complicated, Clare…just please let me get onto the plane."

Clare glared at him and blew a bubblegum bubble, "I am so close from dumping your sorry ass."

"Hey, just feel safe, I am going over on an undercover mission, that's disguised as a vacation."

"Oh yes, I know I can sleep soundly at night knowing that Drake Parker is on the job." Oh the sarcasm dripped almost venomously off her words. Drake sighed and took her hand,

"Clare…I promise to get you something nice, and when I come back…I'll request some real time off so we can do something, anything you want, together."

"Do you mean it?" She asked, smiling as Drake nodded, "Alright then, Drake…but only this once."

"I only need it this once." He kissed her cheek and took the ticket she slipped to him, before he walked over to Dee and Jimmy with a grin, "See, I told you I had it covered."

Dee rolled his eyes and Jim chuckled, "Almost had us worried for a minute there, buddy."

"Yeah, whatever."

xXx

The flight itself was boring, and the three of them mainly slept, or went over the files and discussed. They realized that it wouldn't be easy to get close to Chouko, after all she was the daughter of a Yakuza. The bodyguards and other forms of security that would be around her, blended in with everyday people, would be hard to predict, it could be anywhere between her being alone or having half of the people on the street working for her, or her father. But they wouldn't let that stop them…after all they just needed to talk to her, Dee didn't think that she was the main mastermind, that she simply stuck her hands where her father wanted to, but wouldn't. Making the poor woman a victim just like everyone else in this sorry case.

Or so they would like to think, as none of them where even mildly entertained by the thought of having to draw their guns on a woman.

Osaka was well, a busy place. People where moving everywhere and at a pace that made New York look like it was moving in slow motion. All the neon signs and towering skyscrapers that dwarfed any the three of them had seen before…it was just like in the movies. At that moment they felt small and like all the other tourists that came through the gates of the airport. Stepping out of reality and into a living graphic novel, it was a chilling thought but one that deserved a good chuckle.

"Well, lets go check in to the hotel and then go about renting a car."

"We should have done that earlier." Grabbing their cases and going through the final step of customs they made their way into the bright, midday light of Osaka, Japan. Climbing into a taxi they made their way to the hotel, watching, memorizing everything that passed them bye.

They pulled up in front of their hotel and Drake made a soft snort of a noise, "It looks like two book holders pushed up against each other."

Indeed, the Nikko Hotel did look like that, it was L shaped on both sides and had what seemed an elevator line going up the middle to make it seem as though they were divided and only attached at the top. However, inside, it was a beautiful hotel. They checked in and went to their room. Yes they where aware of the odd looks they received, as three grown men went into the same room, that had two beds. Drake opened his mouth to say something, but Dee cut him off as he threw his bag on one of the beds,

"We'll go over sleeping arrangements when we get back. For now, lets grab our cameras and go be undercover tourists."

"Dee, we are fucking tourists. Face it, we don't know our way around the damn place and we aren't officially here with work. No one knows where we are."

"Drake…as much as I hate to say it, is right Dee. We aren't undercover anything." Dee grunted and put his camera around his neck, and grabbed his jacket. He was going out anyway, and left the other two in the room, shaking their heads.

xXx

Osaka was a large place, and Dee was doing the supposed tourist thing and taking pictures, though really what he was doing was mapping the place out. Dee was trying to get a feel for the place and maybe, find something that would help them figure some things out. Not that he was looking very hard, and once in a while he would take just a random photo to make him seem less cop like and more like a normal tourist, even though he already was. He supposed it was just the paranoia, the what if someone saw him and recognized him. Dee shook his head, as he steadied the camera to take another picture, there was no way that someone would know him. He had never been to any part of Japan before and, outside of Ryo…he didn't know anyone that was Japanese.

Walking around the city some more he found that he had gotten himself somewhat lost. Though it didn't bother him any, he just wanted to be out and clear his mind. Looking side to side before crossing the street, he made his way to a little mini park. Benches where lined up along the path, that joggers and dogwalkers alike used as a form of exercising. The cherry trees where starting to bloom and he couldn't help but take a picture. It was just so…relaxing, why they couldn't have something like this back home. It was a place that he knew Ryo would have loved to have visited, to take a walk at night with the soft glow of the lanterns bouncing off the soft pink petals that danced in the calm night breeze.

Dee sighed as he sat on a bench and took a better look around the park, kids where laughing and playing on the grass, with their parents not far off sitting at a picnic table. Teenage lovers walking through holding hands and having soft conversations, and of course the elderly sitting and feeding bread crumbs to the pigeons that flocked around the bench. If it wasn't for the fact that you could see the skyscrapers high above and the noise of the traffic rushing by, the chimes of store bells going off every time a door opened or closed, you could almost loose yourself in the calmness. It seemed as though you had temporally left the city and entered a small piece of serenity. He assumed that there were parks like this one all over the city. Little patches where people could escape the busyness of the main city, a place where people could hear themselves think.

There was a pond, in the middle of the park, and there where ducks in the pond that had caught Dee's eye and just because, he got up to go take a few pictures. Just because.

That's when he saw the reflection in the water, a reflection that made his skin crawl. The blond hair, cut short, and blue eyes that looked almost yellow because they where contacts. It couldn't be, he was dead…even though he had changed his appearance, it wasn't possible! Dee had seen him jump in front of that bullet and take it in the chest. If Ryo was dead then so was he. Taking a deep breath, Dee watched as the blond across the pond from him stood up and dusted himself off. He steadied his hand as he went to make it look as though he was taking a picture of the ducks and instead took a few snap shots of the man across the water. He lowered the camera and just looked over, the other man looked over as well and froze when their eyes met. There was no doubt in either one of their minds who the other one was at that point.

When the blond haired man turned and ran down the path, it was made even clearer. Shaking his head to clear his mind, Dee took off in the direction that he had left. Making it to the end of the park just as a red car took off down the street. Flashing his camera he took a few pictures before a transport truck got in his way and he lost it. Seems as though his outing wasn't a complete waste of time, and perhaps if he was there, than Leo was as well.

Turning his camera off, Dee waved down a taxi and took it back to the hotel, flipping through the photos that he had taken.

* * *

OhMG, right? How could I bring around this chain of events. Real simply actually…I wasn't going to at first, but then I was like..ehh what the hell.

Well theres Chapter Two XD R'n'R!


	3. Flashback to the present

And here is the third instalment of Recover. I know, it hasn't been to long since I posted chapter two! Well for we all know how the last chapter ended and some of you might be wondering why, so to answer your questions. I love writing Flashbacks…there so much fun XD Haha.

P.S. Still no beta, but it is spell checked. And another thing, I've started school again and I am working so I will try my best to keep a regulare update. And, I wasn't going to do it in all Italics…but I changed my mind, since I have parts in here that aren't Flashbacks and I didn't want to confuse you anymore than I might already will/have.

* * *

He couldn't believe who he had seen, here in Osaka. What the hell was that stupid ass cop doing in Japan. Jumping over a few dogs and running around a bit more people, he got in his car and drove off towards the apartment complex that was being paid for by his, well…he didn't know what to call the other blond man who had surprisingly saved his life.

xXx

_Damien could feel the searing pain that ripped through his body as the bullet broke through the skin and bone, but he couldn't make a sound, as though his voice had been turned off in order to save the others from knowing the extent of his pain. Suddenly, he felt the ground connect against his already fragile body though he could not remember ever falling. Just as soon as he landed on the ground, he felt warm, a sticky warm that pooled in one spot, blood. Damien knew then, with out a doubt in his mind that he was going to die._

_Though it seemed as though death was not so close as he had believed it to be. Through the mayhem and panic of the police calling paramedics, and standing over the fallen body of Ryo, no one was paying any attention to the two criminals. So really it was their fault that they ended up escaping. Damien's mind and body where numb and he was rapidly turning cold, as he felt himself be lifted. Behind the pain that started over again with the sudden movement, the redhead felt as though he was floating. Nothing seemed real at this point as he let his eyes drift closed. Waiting, for the cold, crisp, grasp of Death to come for him once and for all. _

_It was cold, but not a deathly cold, which was strange because he was sure that he was dead and if you're dead then you can't feel the cold. He noted that his eyes where closed but when he tried to open them he found he couldn't…so did that mean that his eyes where already open and that it was just dark in the room…or the afterlife, which ever one he seemed to be in. Faintly he could hear something in the depths of it all, a voice, rough but trying its hardest to be soft. If Damien had seen who it was, sitting by his side then he probably would have died, of a heart attack. The voice kept talking to him, about what he couldn't make out, every now and then we would hear his name…but try as he could, he couldn't open his mouth to respond. He wanted to know why he wasn't dead, and how come he couldn't see or move but still had complete consciousness. Then all was quiet. No sound, no voice, no nothing and once again Damien thought he was dead._

_It wasn't for what seemed like an eternity before any sounds reached his ears, and light penetrated the darkness of his eyes. Everything was blurry, as he slowly, and painfully, moved his head from side to side taking in everything that his unfocused eyes could. What they landed on surprised him._

_"…Leo…" He whispered, with a voice that was cracked and course from not being used in a while. The man in question, was standing at the end of his bed with his arms crossed. He looked up and nodded, a small smirk on his face, _

_"It's about time you woke up. It's almost been three months." Leo walked around to the side of the bed, and leaned over Damien, his hands on either side of the redheads, head. _

_"Why…am I not…dead?" Finally, the question he had wanted to ask for so long. The amount of time that he had been in that paradoxical state of mind, nor the closeness of Leos face to his own, did nothing to deter him from that small fact, the question. Why? Leo shook his head,_

_"Isn't that obvious little one?" He chuckled and Damien blushed, "I had you brought here and received instant attention. However, Ryo was a direct hit and was dead before he hit the ground, you on the other hand." He let out another little chuckle, "The bullet missed anything important, and simply went straight through." _

_Damien blinked tiredly and sighed, thinking over everything that Leo had told him…not that it had been a lot of information, but had told him the reason why he had lived, the bullet had simply went straight through, connecting with nothing except for himself._

xXx

He pulled up outside of the massive building and got out of the car. He had to tilt his head all the back to look at the top, and there…on the 15th floor, corner window on the far side…Damien shook his head and sighed. Why was he so hesitant to enter the building and go to his apartment, after all these years in Japan without Leo. Maybe he was worried that Dee had followed him, even though he was certain that the American cop hadn't. Or perhaps there were more cops around, maybe the Osaka force could have been informed and where tracking him, watching him at this moment! He took a deep breath to calm himself, he was thinking irrationally, after all…Dee probably didn't even recognize him, and even he had realized that it was him and followed, there where still three men that watched Damien day in and day out to ensure that nothing happened to him.

xXx

_It had been three weeks since he had woken, and much to his delight, and confusion, Leo rarely left his side –even if the older man gave no reason for it and, just as often spoke as he left Damien alone. Not that he was complaining about the company. He suspected though, that the only reason for it was because the cops where still looking for them; or at least Leo, and in Damien's still weakened state (he could walk around the house on his own), Leo wanted to insure some sign of violent safety. Though that was just Damien's line of thought. _

_It was a Monday, and they were sitting down to eat their lunch in the large orient-style dinning room, when Leo made the suggestion._

_"Come again?" Oh, Damien had heard him, but he wanted to make sure he had heard Leo correctly,_

_"You will be going to Japan, until things settle down here. I have friends and connections that will insure your safety, so you don't have to worry about anything."_

_Green eyes blinked at him dumbfounded, "But..I am supposed to be dead…I can't just walk into an airport and book a flight half way around the world…" Leo simply chuckled, which caused the redhead to be even more confused. He pulled out a bag and dumped the contents on the table between them; a pair of scissors, hair dye and a ring of colored contacts. Damien shook his head, as Leo also presented him with a passport and fake ID's that where just waiting on a photograph._

_"I am not cutting my hair, and what kind of name is Garu?" was his weak defense. He had spent years getting his hair to length that it was, and he was only a few inches short of his goal._

_"Hair grows back, Damien, and it's French."_

_"I...I know that…but it doesn't change the fact that I don't want to! I don't even look French!" He was a little flustered, still not used to Leo calling him by his name, in a tone that wasn't gruff or annoyed, but in a more civilized manner that Damien didn't know the master criminal was capable of._

_"Stop acting like a child. Would you rather get caught and thrown in jail? Not only did you kill a cop, but they will also uncover all your past jobs. Damien, you could easily get three life sentences."_

_Damien shifted under the heated gaze that was being directed at him and he knew what he had to do. With a sigh of defeat he hung his head, bangs falling in front of his face hiding his eyes. Leo raised an eyebrow, almost elegantly, as he waited for the younger criminal's response._

_Leo still wasn't sure himself, why he had rescued the man in front of him, who had caused him more pain and annoyance in the past then anything good. With his wild red hair and mischievous green eyes, Damien looked more like a boy of seven, who was about to go fishing with his father for the first time…then a man of twenty-seven, who had killed more times through out his life than he had sex. As he contemplated such things, other thoughts drifted into his mind – like how, even though Damien's hair was such a vibrant shade of red, his eyebrows where black, and when he scrunched his nose in thought one could see the freckles that dotted his cheeks…and of course, his mouth parted slightly as he breathed out. Leo shook his head, looking across. The silence was not an awkward one, but it was heavy non-the-less, "Damien." He spoke, loud in the quiet even without raising his voice. Damien jumped, startled by the sudden noise no doubt, and looked up at Leo with a sigh,_

_"Ah…alright…I…I'll do it."_

_"Good." He stood up, packed the items back in the bag and motioned for Damien to follow him. Of course the boy did, like a little puppy that was hoping to be rewarded for a job well done. He say down in the chair that was presented to him and took the elastic out his hair. Leo stared, it was longer then it looked while up, and realized why Damien didn't want to cut it…it would take years to get it this length again._

_"Just, get it over with…please." Damien almost whined, causing Leo to chuckle again, something he had been doing a lot of since living with the younger man. He ran his fingers through the red hair, surprised at just how soft to the touch it was, and was almost starting to regret having to cut it. Damien closed his eyes and leaned his head back as a soft sigh escaped his lips. He always had loved it when other people played with his hair, and right now it was a man who haunted his dreams that was tangling his fingers within the web of firey locks. _

xXx

Damien sighed again and ran his hand through his short hair, it still felt weird to run his fingers through and not be able to pull his hair over his shoulder, he was even starting to miss flipping it out of his face. He looked up at the building again and shook his head before getting back in his car, he wasn't in the mood to go into his apartment right now. He turned the car on and idled for a while before putting it in gear and backed out of the parking lot. Where he was going he wasn't a hundred percent sure, but he knew that he just didn't want to be here.

After driving around for a few miles, Damien drove passed a small sanctuary that doubled as a tourist attraction. He pulled over and got out of the car, it was empty so he decided that here was as good a place as any to empty his thoughts. Looking about the empty ground, Damien stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked towards the stairs that would then lead up to the Shinto shrine. It used to be a daily routine for the young man, to go to a shrine at either the beginning or the ending of a day…however after a few months it lost its excitement. He no longer saw the childish fun in going each day and placing a wish. When he reached the top he was greeted by a Shinto Priest, and was directed into a room, where other men and women where gathered around and sat in quiet discussion over their tea. The priest poured him a cup and passed it out to him, he took it with a smile and a quiet "Arigatougozaimasu." Staring into the little bowel of a cup, and watching the green-tea grains float and sink in the hot water, he thought about the first time he stepped foot in such a place, after all he hadn't always been alone.

xXx

_They had left the Monday morning and arrived in Osaka Tuesday the following night. Damien had made the joke that it was like time traveling, and that they were jumping a head into the future, of course though, he simply received the odd stares and looks from those who where within range to hear him. So he had promptly stopped talking. _

_Walking out of the airport was like a new experience all together, the lights and action that was taking place, simply right there in front of the building, was phenomenal._

_"Lets go." One of the suited Japanese men that had met them took their bags and placed them in the trunk of a white limousine that had pulled up for them. The chauffeur got out and went around, taking a quick bow he opened the door and Leo motioned for Damien to get in first. Secretly he couldn't help but feel as though e was being treated like a woman._

_He looked out the tinted windows as they drove down the busy streets of down town Osaka, even for being so late in the evening cars, and buses full of people, still jammed by on the roads, people getting home after a long day of work. Damien watched on, confusion growing, as they kept driving past the hotel after hotel. _

_"Where we going?" He asked, after they had turned off the main road and into a wooded area._

_"Patience. We're going to meet with Ichiro-kumichou and his daughter Chouko-san."_

_Damien huffed and leaned back in the seat, arms crossed and a pout on his lips. He didn't really feel like meeting with anyone, preferably he wanted to go to sleep for twenty-four hours and then go about with introductions. But he knew that was impossible, because Leo was taking the first flight to London in the morning._

_The limo pulled up in front of, what appeared to be, an abandoned temple of some sort, but upon closer examination, it was a very lively place. Damien simply raised an eyebrow, go figure that the Osaka, Yakuza, would hold meetings in a shrine. No one would ever think to look for them there. And even if they did, it was sacred land and so that police and other law enforcement could not do anything._

_"Follow me." Leo spoke quickly and almost harshly as he got out of the limo, Damien followed him, and even stuck close. He knew how harsh and rough and brutal, the Japanese mobs could be…he had read and researched them before coming out. This circle was no exception, Ichiro-kumichou's hand reached far across Osaka, into every nook and corner of the city and even as far as a few kilometers into Kyoto. He also had done a number of things in the United States a few decades ago. And his daughter, Chouko-san, was every much her father as he and could be just as ruthless, maybe more so because she also possessed the wrath and scorn of a woman._

_Sliding the door to the side, they stepped in. Leo bowed to an elderly man, with snow white hair, that was balding on the top, and sharp black eyes that saw everything that happened around him. His face as without wrinkles, as hard and smooth as polished marble and held such a powerful aura, in his white suit, that there was no doubt in Damien's mind that this man, who shook Leos' hand so gently, was, Ichiro-kumichou. He turned to Damien with his hand extended, and the young man took it. Such a firm and sure grip for a man of his age, not that it surprised him in the least. Letting go, Ichiro gestured to the surrounding men, who all wore matching black suits and sunglasses, and named them off, later Damien would find out that these three men where to be his personal bodyguards._

_All the men, Leo included, spoke in hushed Japanese, leaving Damien to feel awkward and out of place amongst some of the most influential and powerful men in all of Osaka, perhaps even Japan. One of the guards noticed his discomfort, and asked him, in broken English with a heavy accent, "Would you care for some sake?" Damien nodded, and the man reached up and tapped on the screen behind him. It slid open an inch, and he gave whomever was on the other side gruff instructions. He watched as the door closed again and then reopened completely, revealing five beautiful women, dressed in matching vibrant kimonos and gaudy jewels, all carrying trays and began setting things so that they could serve the mens' sake. Another woman came out and walked over and stood next to Ichiro, who placed his arm around her hip in sort of a one armed hug, "This is, my daughter, Chouko." His English was pristine and Damien was astounded by how clear it was compared to the others, though it didn't entirely surprise him. Damien looked over at Chouko, indeed she was a very beautiful woman. With long, flowing, black hair and onyx eyes. Her skin was as smooth as her fathers and just as flawless. She caught his gaze and smiled, to be polite, Damien smiled back. An action did not go unnoticed, but it did go misunderstood._

_After, what seemed like, a few more hours and bottles of sake, the mood had lightened up incredibly. The men where all pink in the cheeks and speaking a tangled mess of slurred Japanese and mutilated English. Leo, himself, even had a small hint of a smile on his lips, that seemed to grow a fraction of a centimeter every time Damien leaned closer to him. Eventually the younger male was resting completely against him, eyes closed, lips parted as his breathing evened out and his face flushed from a combined mixture of laughter and alcohol._

_"We should be going." Leo told them as he stood up, bracing the almost passed out Damien against him. Ichiro stood as well, with a bit of a sway, and shook Leo's hand again as they both bowed. Leo bowed to the other men, who nodded in return –not out of rudeness but because they could not stand, and helped Damien back to the limo, that was still out front waiting for them so that it could take them to the hotel._

xXx

He blew the, now cold, tea and took a drink. Letting the bitterness of it sit on his tongue for a few seconds before holding back his gag-reflexes and swallowed the cold liquid. He didn't remember much of what happened after that, he had fallen asleep in the limo…but had woken naked in the bed of his new apartment, with no sign that anyone else had been there, there wasn't even a note tacked on the fridge with a magnet. He sighed, and not wanting to disrespect anyone, finished his tea in a few large gulps before he stood and made his way back to the exit. Bowing to the priests as he walked passed them and down the stairs. So many stairs, when he had gotten to the bottom of them, he froze at who he saw leaning against his car. The woman turned to looked up at him with a smile,

"Ah, Damien-san," She smiled, "I've been trying to reach you all morning, but you haven't been home."

He smiled back at her, "I was out to clear my mind, I am sorry if I worried you."

"Not at all, you're a big boy and unlike my father I know that you are more then capable of taking care of yourself."

"Of course," He chuckled, "So, what brings you all the way out here with no protection, Chouko-san?"

"My father has asked to meet with you. It seems that something has happened in London that is causing a chain reaction all the way from New York to here."

Damien frowned in thought, maybe seeing Dee hadn't been just a coincidence. The cop might actually be in Japan as a cop and not just another flash photographer. "When would he like to see me?"

"As soon as Leo-san's plane lands. Sometime within the next twenty-four hours I would assume."

"Leo…is going to be in Osaka?"

"No, we are meeting in a shrine located at the half way point of Fuji-san."

Damien blinked, they where going to travel, all the way to Mt. Fuji from Osaka, just to have a meeting that probably wouldn't take any longer then three maybe five hours. He shook his head, never really able to understand how the mind of the Yakuza worked, not that he wanted to fully know what what happening around him. If he did, he probably would have wanted to go to prison and not cared about what could happen to a pretty looking boy like him. Chouko looked at him with a patient face, she was always like that with him and no matter how many times he made the motion of not wanting to be involved, she kept making situations where it couldn't be helped but to bump into her, or give her a small smile out of being polite. "Damien-san?" She asked for the third time, this one bringing him out of his thoughts,

"Oh, I am sorry, Chouko-san…just thinking." He shook his head and gave her another smile, that made her blush, "Would you like to accompany me for some tea and dumplings while we wait on your father?"

She smiled and got in the car as he opened the door for her, "I would be delighted to."

* * *

Alright and theres the end of the third chapter…I do believe that so far it's the longest one and surely wont be the last of the longest. It took me less time then I thought, considering that I rewrote it like four times. (laughoutloud)

Chapter Four – We'll check in and see how everyones doing back in New York!

R 'n' R!


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